


Spots On or Off

by xbenihime



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, double identity reveal, ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-04
Updated: 2016-07-04
Packaged: 2018-07-20 00:01:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7382854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xbenihime/pseuds/xbenihime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marinette can’t stay in class after taking a brutal hit from an akuma to protect Chat. Said Kitty shows up on her balcony to check on her. Double Identity Reveal. Marichat. Adrienette. OneShot. Complete.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Spots On or Off

She shouldn’t be at school.

She knew she shouldn’t be at school. Every movement she made—even the simple act of writing—pulled at the fresh wound that crossed her torso from collarbone to hip. She was biting back the tears that were threatening to fall, and each passing second her liver was filtering her painkillers.

Her skin throbbed with each pump of blood, each wave of pain worse than the last.

But they were graduating in a month, and being this close to college acceptances required her to be at school…staring at the back of his dumb, blond-haired head. The dumb, blonde-haired head that kept turning around with darting green eyes to watch her. The dumb, blonde-haired head who was looking but not saying anything to her. The dumb, blonde-haired head she had protected not forty-eight hours ago during their last akuma attack.

Much to his horror.

Dust tickled the back of her throat, pricking at the insides of her nose. Quickly, she pressed a fingertip just above her lip to depress the nerve but it was too late.

She sneezed.

Light burst in her field of vision as she curled into herself, closing her throat to avoid crying out. Tears brimmed in her eyes as her torso ignited with fire and she felt warmth spread beneath the fingers splayed on her chest.

Oh no.

She heard a faint, “Bless you,” from Alya but it barely registered as she hissed through her teeth and raised a hand.

“Yes, Marinette?” 

Mme Mendeleiev had paused her writing on the chalkboard.

“May I be excused? I’m not feeling very well.” Sweat beaded along her hairline as she clutched the open ends of her cardigan together. She was lucky it was black, because the light blue tank she was wearing beneath stood no chance of masking the blood.

Mme Mendeleiev frowned slightly, “We’re at the end of the year, Marinette. You do know—”

“Please.”

The teacher widened her eyes at her student’s intense tone before nodding. She never missed a class anyway—not to say she didn’t have attendance issues, she was late a lot after all—and if she was this desperate it was definitely an emergency.

Marinette packed up her things one-handed and carried her bag at her side, avoiding the tug her shoulder would have on her already ripped stitches. She thought she saw a flash of glowing green eyeing her chest as she exited the classroom…

But she wasn’t in a red, black polka-dotted unitard right now, so she was probably just hallucinating.

…

Thinking up an excuse for her parents as to why she was missing a week of school was easier than she thought it would be. With her reluctance to not skip class in the first place and her dedication to her schoolwork, simply telling them she was too sick to go was enough.

Lucky for her, they’d planned a trip to Italy that she refused to let them cancel on her account of being ‘sick.’

Well…sick in the way they thought she was anyway.

She lay on her back, torso bare. All around where her skin was split and where the stitches were tugging it back together was red and raw. It was starting to peel and dry out, something that was ridiculously uncomfortable.

The nerves were all out of whack too. 

Any time she accidentally touched her scarring flesh, a sharp pain would shoot through the whole front of her torso. Any time the fabric of her shirt would tug at the black string, and when her bra would move with her breathing.

Hence why she’d tossed it aside today, chest bared to the world.

Her body tingled with energy as she finally managed to relax into the pillows of her bed, drifting off in a rare break of discomfort.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Marinette’s eyes flew open.

No. Not tonight.

Behind the glass with a deep blush on his avoidant face, was Chat Noir.

Fuck.

She scrambled for her bed sheet, holding it to her chest and shuffling over to the window. He sat cross-legged, patiently waiting until the glass swung open.

“What the hell are you doing here?” she hush-yelled, clutching the fabric in her hands.

Chat swallowed, keeping his gaze very much on her face. “Haven’t seen you in awhile, I just wanted to check in.”

Marinette was not in the mood today. “Shouldn’t you be out with your Lady?” 

The black cat swallowed, crossing his arms over his chest, “She’s been MIA ever since the last akuma attack.”

“So you come to me when she isn’t around.” It was a statement. Not a question.

Chat’s eyes flared, “No. I don’t.”

“Seems like it.”

Fighting the anxiety in the pit of her stomach, Marinette had to look away. 

She loved his eyes and how they glowed in the dark. The green was such a lovely colour, it warmed her heart and made her stomach flip no matter the form he was in. They saw her. They saw through her, and no matter how careful she was he could read her like a book.

It was dangerous for her.

Especially when he didn’t know who she was.

She faintly registered fingers toying with one edge of the cloth she held—pulling it down from her shoulder a little too far before instinct kicked in and she pulled away.

His glowing eyes missed nothing in the dark.

“You shouldn’t have taken that for me,” he whispered, voice gravelly and thick. “It’s my job to protect you. Not the other way around.”

Marinette’s blood ran cold.

“Wh…wh—”

Her voice stuck in her throat.

“You know,” she whispered, and he looked at her guiltily, nodding.

Her eyes narrowed, “For how long?”

Chat looked away from the daggers she was shooting, “About a month.”

A month. He’d known for a month and he hadn’t told her.

Her anger swiftly dissipated as her heart clenched. 

A month ago had been when Adrien and her had gotten closer and Chat had been showing up more often.

“So that’s why you started caring about me so much,” she said softly, curling into herself as best she could while avoiding jerking her injury. “Because you found out I was Ladybug.”

Silence.

Tears fell from her eyes as she looked away from the glowing green sclerae, falling in warm streaks down her cheeks to her chin. She knew this already, that if he’d found out who she was with the mask on he’d finally take an interest.

Didn’t make it hurt any less.

“Did you not do the same when you found out I was Adrien?”

She snapped back to his face, jaw slack.

“Yeah. I also know you know I’m Adrien.”

His tone was firm and she saw an ear twitch in irritation as he held her unblinking gaze. When the hell had all of this happened? Where had she been?

“Did you not start spending more time with Chat once you found out who I was?” he questioned, eyes hard.

“That’s different,” she growled, “Adrien is who you are behind the mask. It’s—”

He cut her off.

“Adrien is my mask,” he hissed, the white of his canines flashing in the moonlight. “Adrien is not me. Adrien was created to please my father.”

Marinette looked stricken, taken aback by Chat’s sudden hostility. She swallowed, tucking her hands under her arms and biting her lip.

“So don’t tell me you haven’t done the exact same thing you’re getting mad at me for,” he whispered, letting his head fall. Blond locks fell in his eyes as he brought his hands to his face, rubbing at his cheeks.

After a few moments of silence, he looked back up to her. Calm.

“Can I see?” he asked softly, glancing to her chest.

Marinette balked, “Are you crazy?!”

“Please?” he whispered. Viridian. In the dark his eyes looked viridian.

She hardened her jaw.

“Turn around.”

He did.

She let the sheet fall before bringing her hands up to cup her breasts, taking care to cover as much of the area as she could. Just because what he wanted to see required her to have no shirt, didn’t mean she had to be immodest.

“Okay.”

He turned slowly, eyes trailing up the length of the hemmed flesh.

She watched as he released his transformation in front of her. Though she knew in the back of her mind Adrien was the black cat, that didn’t change how nerve-wracking it was to see it first hand.

Tentatively, he brought his hands up to rest just aside a stitch.

She shuddered.

“Why did you do it? That scythe could have killed you.”

She waited a few moments before responding.

“It could have killed you.”

Adrien looked to her, anger evident on his features as he ran his hands through his hair, gripping at the roots. She was so damn stupid sometimes. It wasn’t her job to think like that it was her job to save everybody.

“That’s not something you should be worrying about,” he growled, letting his hand fall back to his side.

Slap!

Adrien’s cheek stung as he saw her hand rush back to re-cup her breast, her mouth twisted in a snarl. “Don’t you ever say that.”

He watched as her lip quivered and he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Sorry, Marinette.”

She shook her head, closing her eyes and he knew she must be uncomfortable, so he slung the sheet over her shoulders.

She gripped it in her palms gratefully.

“Will you be back at school tomorrow?” he asked, pulling his mask back on through the ring. Plague knew right now wasn’t the time to emerge from his miraculous and instead stayed curled up within its flat surface. He’d definitely thank the kwami for that with some cheese later.

“Yeah,” she whispered, “it’s healed enough it’s not a bother anymore.

Chat nodded, “Good.”

He climbed back out the window. Air rushed in, curling her hair around her face at the displacement and brushing the fabric of her sheet along her skin. 

She went to close and latch the small door but was stopped by Chat turning back to her.

“My Lady?” 

She met his eyes.

“I truly do care for you. Spots on, or off,” he said gently, voice and face unwavering.

Marinette felt her whole body warm and tingle as a small smile crossed her features.

He turned to leave, but she stopped him as well.

“And I, you, Kitty,” she whispered. “With or without that mask.”

**Author's Note:**

> You guys can find me on:
> 
> Tumblr - http://x-benihime.tumblr.com  
> FanFiction - https://www.fanfiction.net/u/7610579/


End file.
